Crops: Recap on the Last Two...

I've been to two different crops of late and I kind of missed telling you about the one in Orange so I'll catch up on both of them right now!

First, The Crop in Orange on December 5th, 2009 was WONDERFUL!

There was...

*Crafting
*Swaps
*BINGO
*Catered dinner
*Fun prizes
*Holiday Spirit Galore!

Here are a couple of pictures from the crop...

Our crop organizer Laurie!


My friend Diana was able to be there this time!


Overall room with the swap table in the forefront

Then the Cookie Exchange Crop yesterday was quite marvelous too!


The Cookies!

Five of us participated which meant that all of us could be at the same table crafting.


WCC* organizer Michelle, she also hosted the crop!

Some of the newer members were there and getting to know new people is always fun.




Newest members, Morgan (top), Jaime & Bea (L-R) who was with us for the first time!

I actually had a list of projects I was working thru and I got some of my list done!


Shhh... something for my bf for Christmas, don't tell him!


I'm working thru a tutorial to make a snow-globe Card for my sister - she LOVES snow-globes!

OH, and Michelle gave us supplies and taught us to make an ornament. She got a picture of me with mine so I'll go find that and post it too!

Thank you for sharing my crops. What are YOU doing creatively with others or on your own? I'd LOVE to see what you are making.

Pam Hoffman

tinseling the tree!

*West Coast Croppers, a meetup.com group

I'm Baking Christmas Cookies for a Cookie Exchange Tomorrow!

One of my oldest memories it baking and eating lots of different types of Christmas Cookies!

I was born Pamela Martin and that original family fell apart so I went to an orphanage, a girls home, then a foster home and then I was adopted.

At the foster home, a wonderful woman we called "Grama Barber" cared for me and my sister and a girl named Rosemary. At Christmastime, Grama Barber would make batches and batches of wonderful and varied Christmas cookies.

Now it occurs to me that I was only there for one Christmas because I went thru all these transitions in the span of only 2 years from age 6 to 8 (mostly apart from my siblings tho my sister and i were adopted together by the Hoffman's when she was 5 and i was 8).

What an impression to be with this kind older woman who baked and baked and baked for us.

When my sister and I were adopted, I must have mentioned this because my mom picked up the tradition and every year thereafter we baked all sorts of great cookies for the holidays.

And even now, I would bake bunches if I had a proper oven. As it is, with a little toaster oven, I'll be making one or two types today and I'll be swapping with my crafting buddies tomorrow at a crop!

I get to make my cookies and eat them too - all kinds of them after tomorrow!

We've been doing this for several years now and it's always a popular crop, The Cookie Exchange Crop.

I'm so grateful to our organizer, Michelle, and I'm so looking forward to it.

I have a lot of prep to do and we're having a potluck dinner with guests this evening too so I'll be off to baking and eating and getting my gear ready for the crop tomorrow.

What are YOUR favorite/oldest memories of the holidays now? Do you carry on the tradition some way still?

I'd enjoy hearing about them. I love this season and I love collecting your best recipes! I'm still a bit up in the air about what I'm baking tonight tho I have some ideas...

Pam Hoffman

Caught in the Act! (of watching TV ;)